This is the new year

Recently, I was invited to become a Lululemon influencer at The Local in Fishtown. Lululemon (yes, the yoga pant line) wanted me to create some community art projects for families to do while they shop on the weekends. During the on boarding process, Lululemon wanted me to focus on my long term goals. Long term goals? Why would Lululemon care about my goals? Lululemon’s goal-setting program is based on a 10-year plan and breaks down into three areas of life: health, personal, and career. I filled out a vision worksheet and was surprised how hard it was for me to be honest. The Lululemon team helped me visualize what I wanted my life will look like in 10 years: What will I love? What will I have accomplished? Who will surround me? From there, the goal-setting works backwards: The big vision is broken down into five- and one-year goals to help make the long-term objective a reality. According to the folks at Lululemon, the point of setting a long-term goal is to become connected to your future self. Many times, people set one-year goals that are easy to visualize and within arms’ reach, like completing a 5K or getting a promotion at work. But the problem with only setting short-term goals is that they don’t contain a bigger picture. Lululemon advises goal-setters to start making little changes immediately, since those can add up and end up influencing who they’re hoping to become in 10 years.

At first I was so nervous that my goals were 'stupid' or not 'cool'. I thought I gotta stop the negative talk.

Stop being mean to yourself. Just stop. You are enough! You ARE strong! You’re capable. Start giving yourself more compliments, and make this year about no negative self-talk — ever. The more you berate and degrade yourself, the harder your year will be; you’ll also have a much harder time reaching your healthy goals.

— DOMINIQUE ASTORINO

So now I am setting goals and keeping myself accountable. I overhauled my website to provide students, educators, and my community a space to showcase what we do in the art room.